Hahn Team Is Focus of Grand Jury

A day after Los Angeles officials adopted stricter rules on political fundraising, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said for the first time Wednesday that fundraising by members of Mayor James K. Hahn’s administration was a focus of the grand jury probe of City Hall.

The district attorney, who was reelected Tuesday, said his office was trying to determine whether mayoral aides and city commissioners had engaged in “heavy-handed political fundraising that stinks, or is it something more than that?”

Cooley said that it was too soon to say whether he would seek indictments but that Los Angeles’ fundraising and contracting practices were “very worthy of investigation.”

He said Los Angeles’ system of citizen commissioners who oversee the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars in the airport, harbor and water and power departments while at the same time engaging in campaign fundraising was “unique.”

“Other cities don’t necessarily have the same setup nor the same challenges,” Cooley said. “We’re looking at the practices in terms of fundraising, particularly as it relates to people in positions of power -- some in the mayor’s office, obviously, some in the commissions.”

Julie Wong, a spokeswoman for Hahn, said, “It is our understanding from the district attorney’s office that the mayor’s office is not under investigation.”

She added that Hahn would like the investigation to be completed and its conclusions made public as quickly as possible.

The mayor himself is not under investigation, said the district attorney’s office spokeswoman, Sandi Gibbons, clarifying Cooley’s remarks. But she said nothing about Hahn’s staff or city commissioners.

The question of whether some officials are engaging in “pay-to-play” politics -- that is, trading favorable treatment during contract negotiations for campaign contributions -- has preoccupied City Hall for months.

Los Angeles’ system of government allows citizen commissioners appointed by the mayor to oversee the city’s departments, and in some cases to hand out millions of dollars in lucrative contracts at the airport, harbor and water and power departments.

Some commissioners also have raised tens of thousands of dollars for the mayor and other local elected officials. But Hahn and the City Council outlawed that practice Wednesday, amid increasing concerns that there was at least a perception of corruption in city contracting practices.

Much of the concern has focused on the city’s airport agency. On Dec. 15, City Controller Laura Chick released a highly critical audit of contracting practices at Los Angeles World Airports and said she had uncovered evidence of “potential illegal acts.”

Chick did not provide any evidence, but she announced that she was turning over the results of a preliminary investigation to state, local and federal officials.

Soon afterward, a federal grand jury subpoenaed hundreds of pages of contracting records from the airport, harbor and water and power departments. Meanwhile, Cooley’s grand jury began calling officials from the airport to testify, along with Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards.

Chick said Wednesday that, “based on what we turned over” to Cooley, his comments regarding the investigation “make perfect sense.”

The D.A. said Wednesday that his office had begun investigating pay-to-play allegations even before Chick released her audit.

“The audit doesn’t necessarily point out any theories of criminal liability or culpability,” he said. “We may find out there is, but that will take an investigation.”

Cooley also said that his investigation had expanded beyond the airport.

“We’re generally looking at the whole thing,” he said.

The district attorney said it was too soon to say whether he would return indictments against officials. But he added that he believed his probe had spurred reform in Los Angeles city government.

Proposals to ban fundraising by commissioners were floated at City Hall in the 1990s, only to die for lack of support. Fueled by concerns about criminal investigations, however, the law enacted Wednesday whipped through several committees and the city Ethics Commission. And just hours after council members approved the fundraising ban Wednesday, the mayor signed it and released a letter urging them to adopt a more comprehensive package of reforms.

Although Hahn initially resisted plans to curtail fundraising by commissioners, he is now calling for a prohibition on fundraising and political contributions from city contractors and land-use applicants as well.

The Ethics Commission will take up those proposals next week, but they have so far not received a warm reception from most members of the City Council.

Some instead suggested that Hahn should concentrate on investigating allegations of wrongdoing in his own administration.

Cooley’s remarks came a day after he won reelection with 59% of the vote, avoiding a fall runoff with any of his five challengers.

However, political experts declined to call the victory a landslide. He should have been able to garner a lot of votes, they said, because he was the incumbent, he amassed a large war chest and the campaign was not that controversial or publicized.

“He was the safe choice,” said political consultant Steven Afriat.

Some consider Cooley a possible candidate for state attorney general after he serves his second term. Former Dist. Attys. John Van de Kamp and Evelle Younger both launched successful campaigns to become attorney general. Afriat called it a “natural progression.”

Former City Councilman Nick Pacheco came in second to Cooley on Tuesday with 15% of the vote. Prosecutor Denise Moehlman received 9%, Head Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Higgins and public law attorney Roger Carrick roughly 7% each and former prosecutor Anthony Patchett about 3%.